If you think Rocky Mountain National Park is crowded on many summer and fall days, wait until Sunday.

That’s the next free day in the park, which saw 4.5 million visitors last year.

Yikes.

Add in paving projects restricting travel on some popular park roads and the saying that nothing is free might ring true.

Consider this: The park saw nearly 1 million visitors in July alone.

The park has seen many days this summer with travel restrictions in place, meaning parking lots are full and roads are severely congested at popular places like Bear Lake, Glacier Gorge and Wild Basin. But it’s not just that parking lots and roads are packed, it's how early in the morning it happens.

Since 2016, the park has been campaigning for visitors to plan ahead and get to their destinations earlier in the day to get a parking spot.

"Each year we have continued to see restrictions start earlier in the day," park spokesperson Kyle Patterson said. "Glacier Gorge fills up by 5 a.m., and Bear Lake by 7 a.m. Visitors are starting to plan ahead and understand if they want to find a parking spot, they have to get there early."

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A bull elk with brush in his antlers, crosses Park Entrance Road while being filmed from a vehicle on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colo.(Photo: Timothy Hurst/The Coloradoan)

The number of travel restriction days comes despite the park seeing flat visitation this year compared with last year through July. May visitation was down 8.4% (280,351) and June down 3.1% (698,224). July, the park’s busiest month, was up 4.5% (973,992).

But this year it’s not just nearly 1 million visitors in July causing road congestion. It’s also necessary but annoying asphalt paving projects that have made it even more difficult to get around the park, which has spent $4.4 million on paving projects this year.

Patterson said a large volume of vehicles and weather combine to wear on roads.

"Some delays have been longer just because of the congestion," Patterson said. "We have had 20-minute wait times that have turned into an hour. We will have more (paving projects) next year."

For best results, hot asphalt mix should be laid when the air and ground surface temperatures are no colder than 50 degrees. Wind cools asphalt even faster, so on very windy days, as often happen in the park, the air temperature should be higher than 50 degrees.

Even in July, Estes Park’s low temperatures dip into the high 40s. Add in elevations where it’s even cooler and the best times to lay asphalt in the park are during the heat of the day in summer.

And if you think the dog days of summer will soon fade into fall and fewer visitors will clog the park’s roads, think again.

Seven of the 10 busiest days in the park last year were in September.

Sept. 22 was the park’s single busiest day last year, with 12,950 visitors. It was a free day to honor National Public Lands Day, plus the height of the aspen and elk bugling season.

Lower Copeland Falls along the North St. Vrain River in the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain National Park is is just the start of what is to come along the trail. Miles Blumhardt/Fort Collins Coloradoan

Bridal Veil Falls tumbles 20 feet before its water is shattered by boulders. The waterfall is found along the Cow Creek Trail in the Lumpy Ridge area of Rocky Mountain National Park. Miles Blumhardt/Fort Collins Coloradoan

RMNP’s 10 busiest days in 2018

Sept. 22: 12,950

Sept. 10: 12,889

Sept. 2: 12,463

July 22: 12,169

Sept. 15: 12,097

Sept. 3: 11,917

Sept. 23: 11,915

Sept.16: 10,869

July 1: 10,710

Aug. 11: 10,673

Miles Blumhardt looks for stories that impact your life — be it news, outdoors, sports, you name it he wants to report it. Have a story idea, send it his way. Email him at milesblumhardt@coloradoan.com or find him on Twitter at @MilesBlumhardt.